The skins, rinds, or outer surfaces of many fruits and vegetables are often removed prior to consumption thereof. Although the skins of many fruits and vegetables are particularly nutritious, others are tough, bitter, indigestible, or otherwise undesirable. When only a few such fruits or vegetables are to be consumed, as by a family or an individual, hand paring using a knife or other simple tool is generally the most practical approach. Industrial food processing companies generally develop automatic machinery for removing undesired portions of fruits and vegetables in the most efficient and least wasteful manner. Falling in between large scale food processors and individual families are food preparation facilities such as restaurants, schools, nursing homes, hospitals, and the like which cannot justify the type of machinery used by the food processing industries but still require methods more efficient than those suitable for the home.
Beta carotene, which is converted to vitamin A in the body, is often used in the treatment of cancer patients and is found in many dark green vegetables and yellow vegetables such as carrots. Carrots are often preferred for such treatments because of the concentration of beta carotene therein and because they can be pureed to form carrot juice which is easily consumed. Often, the outer layer or "peel" of carrots is removed to improve the taste and appearance of carrots to be eaten raw or cooked or to be prepared as carrot juice. Peeling a great number of carrots manually using conventional knives or graters is very time consuming and often wasteful.